Visakha Vidyalaya

Visakha Vidyalaya
විශාඛා විද්‍යාලය
விஹாகா வித்யாலய
Visakha Vidyalaya; විශාඛා විද්‍යාලය; விஹாகா வித்யாலய;
	The crest of Visakha Vidyalaya
Location
	Visakha Vidyalaya Location in Colombo
	Vajira Road; Colombo; Sri Lanka
Coordinates	6°53′31″N 79°51′32″E
Information
Type	National
Motto	Pali: පඤ්ඤාය පරිසුජ්ඣති; Paññāya Parisujjhati; (By wisdom is one cleansed)
Established	16 January 1917
Founder	Celestina Dias
Principal	Mrs. Sandamali Aviruppola
Staff	300+
Grades	Grade 1 - 13
Gender	Girls
Age	6 to 19
Enrollment	6000+
Color(s)	Gold and Blue ;
Affiliation	Buddhist
Alumni	Visakhians
Website	Visakha Vidyalaya

Visakha Vidyalaya (Sinhala: විශාඛා විද්‍යාලය) is a girls' school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is a National School founded by the central government providing primary and secondary education.

History

The school was established in 1917 by Celestina Dias as the Buddhist Girls College in a house called 'The Firs' in Turret Road, Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was the desire of Dias to train the school girls according to the Buddhist moral values and principles. In 1927 it moved to its present premises in Vajira Road, Colombo and was named Visakha Vidyalaya by Lady Herbert Stanley the wife of the Governor of Ceylon at that time. In 1939 the school was affiliated to Lady Irwin College, New Delhi to conduct courses in Home economics.[1] Science subjects were introduced to the curriculum in 1946, for the first time in a girls' school in Sri Lanka.

School motto

Founder Celestina Dias

The school's motto is from the Alavaka Sutta in the Sutta Pitaka of the Tripitaka. When the yakkha Alavaka first confronted Lord Buddha, he threatened to exterminate Lord Buddha unless He, Lord Buddha were to answer all his questions. One of the questions asked was "Kathansu Parisujjhati" (how is one cleansed) to which Lord Buddha replied, "Paññaya Parisujjhati" (by wisdom is one cleansed)

Houses

There are 6 houses at Visakha:

Dawes -
Dias -
Jayatilake -
Motwani -
Pulimood -
Weerasooriya -

Most of the names of the houses are made from the names of past principals.

Past principals

Name	Entered office	Departed office
Bernice T. Banning	Jan. 1917	Dec. 1917
J. Ganguli	Jan. 1918	Mar. 1920
H. Westbrook	Mar. 1920	Jan. 1921
D. C. Devereaux	Feb. 1921	May 1922
E. L. Fletcher	May 1922	May 1924
G. H. Pearse (Acting)	May 1924	May 1925
S. E. Lowe	May 1925	Sept.1926
G. H. Pearse	Sept.1926	Apr. 1933
MacDonald (Act.)	May 1933	Jun. 1933
C. L. Motwani	Jun. 1933	Apr. 1945
S. G. Pulimood	May 1945	Jul. 1967
H. S. Jayasinghe	Jul. 1967	Jun. 1983
S. E. Siriwardhana	July 1983	Dec. 1987
M. N. Edussuriya	Jan. 1988	Oct. 1999
R. M. L. Jayasekara	Oct. 1999	Nov. 2001
M. D. I. N. Siriwardhana	Nov. 2001	July 2003
R. N. Amarasinghe	July 2003	July 2007
C. R. Gunarathne	July 2007	Oct. 2008
B. M. Weerasooriya	Oct. 2008	Dec 2008
Sandamali Aviruppola	Dec. 2008	present

Notable alumni

Deepali Wijesundera, Judge of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka
Kusala Abhayavardhana, social worker and member of parliament
Kshanika Hirimburegama, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Colombo
Jayathri Samarakone, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Singapore
Sumitra Peries, filmmaker and Sri Lanka's Ambassador to France
Inoka Sathyangani, film director and producer
Sabeetha Perera, film actress
Ruchira Silva, fashion designer
Hirunika Premachandra, politician
Anusha Damayanthi, film actress

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References

"Clara Motwani". ancestry.com.

External links

Visakha Vidyalaya

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[1] "Clara Motwani". ancestry.com.